ImagePAweek long. We prepare things. We give advice. We give out
information. In a game, it’s difficult to give out many instructions
because it’s too loud and play is too fast. So you can only talk during
half-time.
So, I think my job is being like the reserve tank for the boys – if their
energy level drops, I have enough to share. I’ve said to players a
couple of times, ‘I will give you all my power, I don’t need it. So really
go for it. I will kick your ass when you need it. I will shout at you when
you start to feel weak.’ It’s better for them to be aggressive and angry
with me than to not respond to a situation and end up thinking, ‘Oh, I
missed the chance’. It’s better that they think, ‘Boss, you’re a wanker’
and then go off and prove what they can do.
I’ve never thought about how I might behave on the sideline. It just
happened. It’s just me. I’m not interested in what people say about
me, but I know that people think I’m not a tactician because I’m too
lively to be a tactician. I’m the emotion guy.
BISHOP Whereas they see Pep Guardiola as the tactician.
KLOPP Pep is lively as well, but not that lively. He looks better when
he’s shouting. Pep always looks perfect – body, clothes, everything is
perfect. When I shout, I look like a serial killer. It’s my face – I bite my
teeth in a certain way. I look at babies with exactly the same face.
Like, ‘You’re so cute.’ And very often the babies start howling.
On HIS ‘InTEnSITY’
BISHOP How do you build up to the intensity of the 90 minutes? Do
you have a routine? How quickly are you able to process a game,
regardless of whether we’ve won? Can you put it away and deal with it
on Monday?
KLOPP I’ve never been able to switch on or off, but I’m much better
at it than I used to be. I give 12-13 interviews after a game, so don’t
really get a chance to think about myself.
BISHOP Just say that again – how many interviews?
KLOPP Around a dozen. Perhaps six of those are for television, I think,
then radio, radio, radio, then the club TV channel.
BISHOP Are they all contractual commitments?
KLOPP Yes. The post-match interviews for the Champions League
games are even more demanding.
BISHOP Does that mean you have already had time to decompress,
as you’ve said everything to the press?
KLOPP I’m not sure! After a game, you go straight to the dressing
room for a minute, and then you go out and [Liverpool’s head of
press] Matt McCann is waiting for me and off I go.
How can I explain it? It’s like being a piece of meat that is not
cooked. I sometimes feel a bit raw, but I have to go out there and
sometimes I’m immediately presented with a silly question like, ‘Why
did you play that player?’ You have to learn to bite your tongue
sometimes. I have a problem with losing, I’m not a good loser, but I
accepted long ago that sometimes you lose. So far, so good. But if
somebody isn’t sensitive or isn’t really interested in what I’ve got to
say, they’re just after a quote or a headline or they ask, ‘How could
you let this or that happen?’ then it’s hard to be composed. From time
to time, I do go for them with words.
I’m famous in Germany for giving weird interviews. When, live on TV,
I went for the interviewer: ‘Which game did you see? Blah, blah, blah.’
BISHOP I haven’t seen you do that here.
KLOPP I’m not that person any more. I’m calmer.
BISHOP Age brings that.
KLOPP Absolutely. After I’ve done the interviews and seen the
players, I don’t think about the game. Both of my boys, who are now
30 and 33, are completely football mad. So when they come to
Liverpool, they talk to me constantly about football. Or they text me
from Germany. After a game, I have to say, ‘Please, shut the f**k up.’ I
saw the game. I was there. I don’t want to talk about it. I have a
meeting about it tomorrow.
On THE nEXT LIVERPOOL MAnAGER
BISHOP I’m interested in what you were saying about having
confidence as a leader, and I wondered if it relates to being
comfortable with having legendary ex-players around the club. Kenny
Dalglish is a non-executive director and you don’t appear threatened
by his presence. You brought Steven Gerrard in as Under-18s
manager. There are some managers in your position who would say,
‘I’d rather make sure former players are out of the way,’ but you’ve
actually embraced them.
KLOPP First, Kenny and Stevie have both been a really big support
from day one. Second, my position as a manager has nothing to do
with the people around me. If Liverpool were to sack me tomorrow,
then maybe Kenny would be the first choice to replace me, but they
would probably bring Stevie down from Glasgow. If you ask who
should follow me, I’d say Stevie. He was here earlier on today, just
for 10 minutes. I help him whenever I can. If someone gets your job,
it’s not about them, it’s about you not being good enough.
I’m old enough to know that I give this job everything. I’m not a
genius, I’m not perfect, but I give the club 100 per cent. If that’s
enough, great. If it’s not, then it’s just the problem of the situation.
I’m not jealous, I’m not sceptical. I’m completely open. If you want
my help, you’ll get it. My family often thinks that I’m too quick to
open up, but I think being any other way is a waste of time. I love
life, I love my job, I like most people, that’s how it is.On BEInG ‘ THE nORMAL OnE’
BISHOP I can see you put so much into it that you need some space
to be away from it. I remember the first time I saw you here at
Melwood, you turned up in an Opel, not the flashiest of cars...
KLOPP I still drive an Opel...
BISHOP ...and that’s great, but it’s not the image of most of the
people involved within the football world. I don’t feel as though
you’ve bought into the flashy side of football. You have your world
away from football. What do you do when you’re not working?
KLOPP Wife, dog, friends and family. My two sons are my best
friends, so that’s really cool. They both work in Germany. As I said,
they are both football maniacs, so they come over as often as theyAbove “I really
wanted to bring
that glory back
to the club,” said
Jurgen. Mission
accomplished“PEP ALWAYS LOOKS PERFECT –
BODY, CLOTHES, EVERYTHInG IS
PERFECT. WHEnEVER I SHOUT,
I LOOK LIKE A SERIAL KILLER”
FourFourTwo.com The Managers 117JURGEn
KLOPP